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Green claims Emirates Towers in Dubai are only 60% efficient.

As more and more companies expand, Becca Wilson looks at the reality of space planning in the region's offices.

With the cost of office space in the more popular parts of the Middle East soaring as high as US $272 (AED 1,000) a sq ft, businesses and their FMs are having to think twice about how they use their office space.

Depending on business size, expanding companies are either relocating or utilising their space more efficiently. For companies entering the Middle East region, it's wise finding space that will best suffice a growing company, at least for the first leasing period.

Another reason to relocate could be down to an expired lease. With developments in the UAE in particular, appearing in months rather than years, a development that once had nice views, plenty of daylight and uncongested road systems, might now be overpowered by buildings blocking the sun and a shortage of car parking.

So what should businesses look out for and how does the Middle East fair up to the international companies setting up regional offices? Are architects and developers designing and constructing buildings with flexibility in mind? And how will the change in office dynamics affect the burgeoning office industry?

The on going debate that gathers attention and the question FMs all over the world often come across when thinking about space planning, is: how far you can push a comfortable working environment before it gets too cluttered and unproductive?

"Before, office space used to equate to around 18m² a person, I was horrified. But now they are coming down to around 12m² and this is happening because rent is getting so expensive and companies have to think more about how they utilise their space," says Simon Green, general manager, Schiavello.

"The cost of rent is driving this and inefficient planners will cost the client dearly. If it's a big company, it might be the difference between renting two or two and a half floors."

And when taking the length of the lease into account, it's vital the right choice is made to ensure costs are kept to a minimum.

Relocation realisation or staying put?

For those companies needing to relocate, space planning really does start from the beginning. The first step is to sit down and assess the company's requirements. How many staff are there? What is the projected growth? What kind of offices will be best suited to the company's business? And how much efficiency will you get out of that building?

In Dubai alone, a major problem is that of signature building and aesthetically pleasing architecture. "Building fancy shaped buildings are actually very inefficient. For example, because of the shape of Emirates Towers, you get these odd areas that you can't do anything with. That building is about 60% efficient. So you're paying 100% rent for a building that can only give you 60% efficiency," claims Green.

While he says it's impossible to achieve 100% efficiency, there are buildings in Dubai that work to a high standard of efficiency.

He cites Festival Towers in Dubai Festival City as one example and explains that even though the building has the odd curve, it's a "rigid building and nice to look at". Green claims its efficiency level stands at around 85%. But dependant on a company's business requirements, efficiency might not be top of its list. If prestige and location are more important, Emirates Towers could be exactly what a company requires.

Whether companies are relocating or utilising existing space, facilities managers should look to allocate 10m2 a person if they want efficiency. For those relocating, finding decent and affordable office space can be a problem.

"According to the Colliers report, in terms of the office market today, there is currently about a 1-3% vacancy in Dubai. But to be honest, it's often more like 1%. What happens is that as soon as one building becomes vacant, it is occupied straight away. So people are often forced to go into buildings that are badly designed," explains Green.

Because of this reason, it is imperative for facilities managers and building owners looking for new office space to act fast and allow enough time to assess the company's requirements before the lease runs out.

But it doesn't matter if the company is renting or buying office space, a grid or footprint of a building will help determine how efficient it will be for the company's business needs.

"A building that has columns to the perimeter and not in the middle, is important. Why? Because of the effect of the structure. If I've got a series of workstations in an office and the column is on the perimeter building, it won't actually affect me.

"But imagine if a column came in between the grids, I would lose one, two or four workstations every so often. That's the effect of the footprint. So it's very important to figure out where your columns are in relation to your footprint of your workstation on the grid. The effect, is inefficiency," stresses Green.

The choice to relocate or stay put is down to individuals and will be dependant on a variety of reasons. But if companies do decide to retrofit, Green says one of the problems can be the lack of swing space.

"Swing space is spare space for retrofit. If a company had a spare half a floor and they knew they needed a whole floor for growth, you could retrofit by putting some people into the swing space and fitting the other space," he adds.

"But what often happens here is that companies are very full, don't have swing space and can only do small bits at a time. It becomes a disaster.

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